1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to electrical fuse programming circuits within semiconductor circuits. More particularly, the invention relates to effective and efficient electrical fuse programming circuits within semiconductor circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to resistors, transistors, diodes and capacitors, semiconductor circuits often also include electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures that are located within electrical fuse programming circuits. Electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures within electrical fuse programming circuits are intended to provide an efficient means for substituting defective or otherwise non-functional semiconductor circuit components within a semiconductor circuit. Such an efficient substitution of defective or otherwise non-functional semiconductor circuit components within a semiconductor circuit is particularly common within memory circuits, such as random access memory circuits. Such memory circuits often comprise multiple redundant circuit blocks for which appropriate substitutions may be made by programming of an electrical fuse located within an electrical fuse programming circuit. Other applications such as trimming parameters of device components such as resistors or capacitors are also known.
While electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures within electrical fuse programming circuits are thus desirable within semiconductor circuits, electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures within electrical fuse programming circuits are nonetheless not entirely without problems in the semiconductor fabrication art. In particular, the process of programming an electrical fuse within an electrical fuse programming circuit is not necessarily always reproducible. Similarly, such irreproducible electrical fuse programming may under certain circumstances lead to substituted semiconductor circuit components which although expected to be functional, are in fact not functional.
Since electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures within electrical fuse programming circuits are likely to be of considerable continued interest for efficiently fabricating semiconductor circuits, desirable are electrical fuse programming circuits and related methods for operation thereof that provide for efficient and effective programming of the electrical fuses and electrical fuse structures within the electrical fuse programming circuits.